Fairings are used on aircraft landing gears to reduce noise and turbulent airflows generated by the landing gear during landing and take-off. Such fairings are often positioned in front of noise inducing components to shield them from incident airflow and also to protect the landing gear from damage caused by impact from foreign bodies. Attempts have been made to provide more efficient noise reduction using articulated fairings which can fully cover high noise inducing components such as brakes while the aircraft is airborne and yet allow full airflow over the same components during touch down (see for example GB 2475919).
Fairings are also used on landing gears to contain foreign object projections into the airframe, engines or other critical aircraft elements while an aircraft is on the ground. A non-limiting example is an aircraft configuration with propellers at the rear of the airframe. Such aircraft are subject to damage from foreign objects such as tyre shred or runway debris, propelled from the landing gear wheels. Recent advancements in propeller technology have led to their increasing application in civil and military aviation. When wing mounted, such engines are susceptible to damage due to projections from nose landing gear. Moreover, it is believed that with the evolution of turboprop technology, future aircraft may incorporate rear mounted turboprops, which will require main landing gear to be positioned further to the rear of the airframe. Accordingly, projection containment from the landing gear is now even more paramount to safety and reliability of modern aircraft than ever before.